


A Chance For a True Peace

by SilverKnight17



Category: Metroid Series
Genre: Gen, Super Metroid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25651504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKnight17/pseuds/SilverKnight17
Summary: As soon as she received the distress signal, Samus knew she should have never left the Baby behind. Without hesitation, she guns it back to Ceres Station with the fragile hope of rescuing the scientists, the hatchling...and the future of the entire galaxy.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

_No._

The elevator landed, and Samus took off. Ceres Station was a floating steel disc that held countless hallways and doors easily capable of confusing anyone who set foot here. But Samus, having toured the station mere hours before, knew exactly where to go.

_No. No._

Her armored footsteps echoed as they pounded the empty metal floor. Fumes of smoke billowed everywhere. Low blue lights lit her way. Only auxiliary power kept the station in orbit. Torn cables and wires sparked erratically from a hole, which stood out like a fresh wound, ripped open by a monstrous creature with savage claws. A cold shudder passed through the Hunter, urging her to hurry.

_No. No. No._

Her breathing was ragged as she leaped down the last flight of stairs and rushed through the gaping hole that remained of the chamber’s door, torn aside in the same savage manner.

_No!_

They were dead.

Every single one of them.

The room reeked of blood. Samus could smell it even through her helmet. Strewn about the room were the mangled bodies of the Ceres scientists. All of them bore huge, cruel gashes, their faces frozen in screams of agony.

_I’m too late!_

The Hunter couldn’t fight a crushing wave of grief. Just a few hours ago, she was conversing with some of the brightest minds in the galaxy about the future of the Galactic Federation. The whole station was alight with hope, swarming with activity and excitement like a beehive. Now it was a silent, shadowed tomb.

All she hoped was that they met death quickly, that their pain was not prolonged. Samus turned away, clenching her fist to keep it from trembling. There was nothing left here. No life, no hope, no—

_The Baby!_

Her eyes snapped to the large bio tank in the middle of the room. Its glass was shattered into a thousand pieces, and it was empty. The hatchling was gone. Anguish and fury churned her gut. Blood roared in her ears. Her vision went red.

_What have I done?_

_I should have never left it behind!_

_How could they have known?_

_You should have known this would happen!_

_THEY’RE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!_

Uncontrollable rage exploded inside her and she slammed her fist into the wall. It did not hurt, but her anger immediately subsided.

_It wasn’t…it wasn’t the Baby. It wasn’t._ “It wasn’t,” she murmured to herself.

The moment she received the distress call, she instinctually assumed the Metroid hatchling was the cause. But the wanton destruction around her proved otherwise; though violent and dangerous, Metroids only attacked living things. They wouldn’t have gouged holes in the walls and ripped doors off their hinges. Least of all one as small and relatively weak as the larva.

And since none of the human scientists could do that… a single possibility of the attacker’s identity remained.

A small, high-pitched beeping caught her ear. The upper-left corner of her visor indicated the presence of a lifeform just ahead. Hope fluttered like a weak heartbeat.

The door leading out of the lab had also been ripped off, but not the one at the end of the hall. It was as though the attacker’s bloodlust had mellowed out, and he decided to use the door like a regular, sane person.

As she guessed, the door was fully functional and opened without her touch.

This room might have been a large storage area, but from what Samus could see, it was empty. Multiple auxiliary lights had fizzled out here, leaving the space half-hidden in shadow, too dark to even see the ceiling.

She inhaled sharply. Sitting at the edge of the shadow was the Baby Metroid, chirping and shrieking inside its glass blue container, exactly how she’d left it when she departed the station.

But why was it in here?

The attacker must have brought it.

But then, where was the attacker?

Cautiously, keeping her hand primed on her arm cannon, Samus approached the hatchling, kneeling down for a better look. The green alien’s chirping grew higher and more frantic at the sight of her. All three of its scarlet eyes trained upon her, and it pressed its whole body against the glass like it was trying to reach her.

The Hunter’s shoulders sagged with relief. It was completely unharmed. “C’mon, little guy. I’m getting you out of here.”

She reached for the container’s handle, only for an enormous clawed hand to grab it first.

Before her brain even registered it, Samus fired.

A glittering amber eye sliced through the darkness like a sword. With a roar, he slid out of the shadows.

Ridley. Alive and wholly restored. Not a trace of cybernetics on his body.

Samus somersaulted backwards, putting what little space she could between them. Unfortunately, this also meant separating herself from the hatchling.

_“Surprised, Hunter?”_ the space pirate general hissed, his long jaws twisting in some sickening form of grin.

“No,” Samus answered honestly. “Our last fight wasn’t enough to kill you for good. I knew you’d be back, but I hoped it would take a few millennia first.”

_“And here I am anyway. Here to take back what is mine!”_ he clutched the Metroid’s container so tightly the glass cracked. _“What belongs to the space pirates!”_ Spreading his massive wings, he launched into the air.

“The Metroids never belonged to you!” Samus fired a volley of shots, which Ridley easily dodged despite the claustrophobic space. “They always belonged to the Chozo!”

_“Idiots, the lot of ’em!”_ Round red fireballs erupted from the dragon’s mouth, raining down on Samus like bombs. _“They could’ve taken over the entire galaxy, but they chose PEACE!”_ He spat the last word like it was poison, simultaneously stabbing at Samus with his spiked tail. _“Wastes of space! Just like you!”_

Narrowly dodging, she pinned the tail under her arm. Ridley wriggled free and swatted her aside, but not before Samus landed several hits. How she wished to use her Super Missiles, but she couldn’t risk hurting the Baby, or worse, blowing more holes in the station and getting sucked into space.

_“You didn’t even want this puny parasite anyway!”_ He mockingly dangled the Metroid above her. Without warning, his tail shot out again, wrapping around her neck like a steel chain. _“You went to SR388 to murder ’em all, didn’t ya? On the Fed’s orders?”_

“The Metroids needed another chance,” Samus gasped as the tail squeezed tighter, crushing the light armor around her windpipe. Red alerts covered her HUD. A storm of desperate shots battered Ridley, but he wouldn’t let go. “The— the galaxy needed another chance.”

_“Yeah, RIGHT!”_ He lifted her up and slammed her into the wall. Stars dotted Samus’ vision. Leaning in inches from her visor, he snarled, _“YOU were just too cowardly to complete the JOB!”_ Suddenly his voice lowered, taking on an almost thoughtful tone as he examined the hatchling in his claws. _“Or maybe… it’s because… you saw yourself in this precious little life-sucker? A survivor? …The last of its…kind?”_

Even if she weren’t choking on her own spit, Samus wouldn’t have answered. Darkness invaded her sight until all she saw were his hellish glowing eyes. Her whole body seized up, and not just from the lack of oxygen.

_“Oh,”_ Ridley purred, making Samus’ skin crawl. _“I’m going to enjoy watching you burn, Hunter.”_ He ascended higher and higher, both his archenemy and his prize in his clutches. _“How does it feel? Knowing your futile attempt at redemption will end in your death?”_

As her Power Suit began to dissolve and her final breath climbed up her throat, Samus sent out a prayer to the universe. That prayer came in the form of a Super Missile.

It exploded on his shoulder. Ridley screeched like a demon and released her.

She plummeted to the ground like a sack of wet cement. Seconds passed before she remembered how to breathe, and gulped in air with even more agony. Her eyes opened, and she saw the message _MISSILE MALFUNCTION_ displayed across her visor. She would have cursed, but uncontrollable coughing interrupted her speech. Though her limbs shook with exhaustion, she forced herself to rise.

Raising her head, she saw her nemesis swooping over her. An explosion of light and fire seared the room as a massive fireball blasted a hole through the wall to her right.

Pausing at his exit, Ridley glanced over his shoulder and grinned slyly. _“At least I still get your protégé! I’ll turn it against you. Train it to hate you. I’ll make you regret the moment you decided to spare its life!”_

“No!!” Samus thrust out her left hand. Miracle of miracles, the Grapple Beam still functioned. An electric whip shot out from her arm and latched onto the hatchling’s container. With all her might, Samus pulled back and yanked it free of Ridley’s grasp.

_“Wha—?”_ he whirled around so fast it created wind. _“You little—!”_

Tucking the container in the crook of her arm, Samus bolted from the room.

For the first time in her life, her priority was not killing the terrifying space dragon who’d haunted her since age three.

Her priority was protecting an innocent creature from meeting a similar terrible fate.

By every star in the galaxy, by the ancient Chozo elders watching over her, she would not repeat the Federation’s mistakes. She would not let the last Metroid fall into evil’s hands.

Ridley was not about to let this sudden reversal slide. Like a shark scenting blood, he tore after her.

An electronic voice boomed above, “THIS STATION WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 60 SECONDS.”

Tremors shook the station to its core. Emergency alarms blared. Plumes of pressurized steam and smoke burst from severed pipes. The floor creaked and groaned like titanic hands were pulling it apart.

“50 SECONDS.”

Samus ran like a demon. She hurdled over fallen equipment. Scaled entire flights of stairs in single bounds. Not once did she look back. There was no need to confirm what her ears heard: Ridley, clawing and crashing his way through the narrow halls, snapping at her heels.

“40 SECONDS.”

Behind her, an ear-splitting crash smothered the loudest of the sirens. Samus ignored it. The noise died down on the upper levels. That made the Hunter skid to a halt.

He was waiting for her, blocking her exit. She was heading straight for an ambush.

“30 SECONDS.”

Samus’ thoughts flew faster than her breathing. Doubling back, she found the gap Ridley had ripped through the ceiling. Much like his earlier work, it was crude, but it went straight through to the next floor. The uppermost level. Outside lay freedom.

But was he expecting her to use it? She couldn’t afford to be rash, but she couldn’t afford to hesitate, either.

There was no choice. Tensing her legs, she sprang up as high as possible, and touched down neatly on the upper level.

“20 SECONDS.”

The Baby shrieked an alarm. Samus whipped around to see Ridley, poised to attack.

_“Nice try,”_ he snarled. Scores of white-hot fireballs exploded from his mouth. Samus pressed the hatchling’s container into her body and turned her back, shielding it from the full brunt of the flames.

_VARIA SUIT MALFUNCTION,_ her visor read. _POWER CONVERTED TO LIFE SUPPORT._

_This just isn’t my day,_ Samus thought as she collapsed on the floor. A brilliant white flash briefly illuminated her vision. When it faded, she didn’t even need to look to know— only her basic Power Suit remained online.

“10 SECONDS.”

The Baby’s muffled cries grew increasingly frantic as it pounded against the glass. Samus opened her eyes and realized she was still holding onto it.

“9.”

She raised her head and saw Ridley, striding on all fours, moving to claim his stolen prize. She heard her suit’s low-power alarms whirring.

“8.”

She punched her arm cannon into the floor, pushing herself up, forcing herself to rise. Her eyes darted between her archenemy and the final stretch of staircases. The hatch to the outside seemed impossibly far.

“7.”

Ridley lunged the exact moment Samus dove for the stairs. He missed and hit the wall. Samus cleared the first set in one leap, then turned and jumped up to the next one. The actual steps may as well have not existed.

“6.”

The whole station lurched to the side as it fell out of orbit. The room tilted, threatening to slide the Hunter clean off the platform. But she kept her footing and, holding tight to the Baby, jumped up to the next one.

“5.”

Like a raptor diving for its prey, Ridley shot up and made a wild grab for her. Before he could either tear her to shreds or snatch the hatchling, Samus turned on a dime. Cocking back her arm cannon, she socked the space dragon in the face for all she was worth.

“4.”

Screaming with purest fury and hate, Ridley plummeted back to the floor. Samus didn’t check if he was getting up again. Clearing the last few platforms, she threw her entire weight against the hatch. With a groan, it opened.

“3.”

Samus leapt onto her gunship. Automatically, she was lowered into the cockpit.

“2.”

Hatchling in hand, the Hunter vaulted into her seat and floored it.

“1.”

The self-destruct bombs detonated. Samus and the Baby were safe, Ceres Station exploded into space debris, all traces of its inhabitants, technology, and promise wiped out. All that remained were the memories and hope of a brighter future, for both the Federation and the Metroids.

* * *

Samus didn’t slow down for hours. By that time, adrenaline had worn off, and, unsurprisingly, she felt completely drained.

Chirping sounds brought her attention back to the Baby for the first time since they’d fled Ceres. All she could do was stare at it. This tiny, deadly creature that everyone, good or evil, wanted to get their hands on. This mere infant that was only alive and present in this moment because of her. Twice.

She wondered if it was worth it. If it was truly necessary to keep the last Metroid alive. Her own words echoed in her mind: _The Metroids needed another chance. The galaxy needed another chance._

It wasn’t the Metroids the galaxy needed to fear. It was the space pirates, sowing the seed of fear and panic, corrupting the peace behind smoke and shadow.

The space pirates, who captured and exploited the species for years.

The space pirates, who turned the Metroids into living weapons.

The space pirates, who had permanently stained one of the Chozo’s last standing legacies.

And she was the other. The last survivor, child, and warrior of her adopted family.

Samus twisted the container’s hatch open, allowing the hatchling to fly freely around the cockpit. The tiny larva regarded her, sharing a long look with the one it deemed its mother.

“I wish it was over,” Samus told it. Had it grown a bit? “I wish we could go somewhere you’d be safe from them. From all of them.”

Despite the space pirates’ history of abuse, the Baby would fare no better in Federation hands. Though their actions would be well-intentioned, the outcome would be unsatisfactory. The Baby would be captured, and Samus herself would be arrested for possessing it. She would be an idiot to trust them. Not now, not yet.

If the hatchling understood her words, it gave no sign. Instead, it plopped itself on her helmet, purring contentedly. Unable to suppress a small smile, she reached up and patted it.

“It’s time to end the space pirates’ reign of terror for good.” Samus adjusted the gunship’s position, aiming in vaguely in the direction they’d come from. “Ridley couldn’t have restored himself without help. A lot of help. They must have rebuilt their base on Zebes.”

She pressed a few buttons on her computer. A familiar planet, her second homeworld and the one she remembered better, flickered onscreen. Even after she’d destroyed their base on her very first mission, it was the only pirate-infested planet too dangerous for the Federation to occupy. No other place existed for the scourge of the galaxy to cower and breed in the dark like the roaches they were.

Bringing the hatchling with her was beyond foolish, but it would be safest at her side, even if the word “safe” did not remotely apply to the situation in any way, shape, or form. She could never let it out of her sight. Never again.

As Zebes loomed in the distance, despite the long, perilous mission awaiting her, hope began to take root in Samus’ heart.

Maybe, just maybe, after the pirates were gone for good, the galaxy would begin to see the Metroids’ place within it.

A chance for redemption. A chance for renewal.

At long last, a chance for a true peace in space.


	2. Touchdown on Zebes

On the barren surface of Zebes, the thunderclouds stretched miles high into the atmosphere, preventing all but the strongest light from reaching the rocky earth. The only things cutting through inky blackness were cloud-to-ground mega lightning bolts.

It wasn’t exactly a warm welcome, but that was to be expected. Zebes was no longer home. Hadn’t been for years. Nevertheless, it painted a grim picture of the Hunter’s newest mission. Samus hailed it as a sign of what was to come.

As the yellow gunship touched down, torrential rain battered it like thousands of tiny fists. With silent, intense curiosity, the Baby observed the sound, and Samus observed the Baby. It made short trilling noises as it floated closer to the windshield, only to screech and zip behind Samus as a bolt struck with an ear-splitting _crack!_

She glanced at it over her shoulder, watched it tremble with shock. This soul-sucking apex predator, who had faced the space dragon Ridley twice and survived the Ceres explosion, was scared of thunder? It just seemed so…ridiculous.

Patting it lightly, she moved under the ship’s hatch. “Stay put,” she ordered. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

A second bolt struck, followed instantly by thunder: _BANG!_ The hatchling shot up so fast it bonked its head on the ceiling, and it let out a piercing shriek. It didn’t exactly have eyes or a face, but it somehow conveyed a pleading expression. Its whole body vibrated with fear, and it rocked back and forth, not knowing whether to retreat and hide or seek comfort from its mother.

“You’ll be fine,” Samus assured it. “It’s just thunder. It can’t hurt you.”

Despite her sternness, she felt sorry for it. Really, she did. But leaving it in the ship was far more preferable than bringing it to the heart of pirate-infested caverns.

A third bolt hit the ground outside, turning the world white. The accompanying crash was so horribly deafening, even Samus flinched.

Screeching, the Baby hurled itself at her. The Hunter instinctively raised her arm, and the Baby latched onto it. Her whole body stiffened in alarm, but there was no energy-sucking or even a twinge of pain. The hatchling simply clung to her like the galaxy’s stubbornest barnacle.

She tried to brush it off, but the larva only growled and tightened its grip.

Samus sighed, head in hand (the one with the Metroid). Against every shred of willpower, good judgement, and common sense she had, she muttered, “Okay, you can come.”

Cue a muffled squeak of relief from the Baby.

* * *

To Samus’ relief, the Baby let go once they found cover in the caves, well away from the open sky. Though the storm hadn’t let up in the slightest, the noise didn’t seem to bother it as much. Perhaps their new environment reminded it of SR388, however brief its memories were of its birth planet. Even though it sounded like rock giants were having fist fights overhead, the hatchling floated on, and was soon cheerfully investigating groups of little green insects clustered on the walls.

Samus, on the other hand, couldn’t feel more unsettled. Those bugs were the only signs of life on Zebes so far. Where were the Zoomers crawling on the ground? The Shriekbats watching from the ceiling, ready to drop on a dime?

Most importantly, where were the space pirates? She’d half-expected to be ambushed the second she landed, but neither sound nor sight of them existed. Even her radar revealed nothing.

She shook her head. The fight with Ridley on Ceres had disabled all but her most basic abilities, but the space pirates’ failure to show themselves gave her an advantage. They’d unwittingly given her time to explore. With luck, she’d soon recover some data capsules left behind by her Chozo ancestors. Although the pirates had successfully copied a few of her abilities in the past, they couldn’t interact with the Chozo relics directly. By chance, they’d found the Morph Ball data capsule on Tallon IV some time before her arrival, and she probably shouldn’t have found their subsequent log entries as morbidly funny as she did.

Point being, any remaining relics on Zebes were hers for the taking. Time to get going. She motioned to the hatchling, who returned to her side like a loyal puppy. It was surprisingly responsive to nonverbal communication, but like any puppy in training, it got easily distracted. While she walked straight ahead, the larva kept zipping up and chattering to anything that caught its eyes.

The green bugs posed absolutely no threat, but her eyes kept drifting toward them and the larva, making sure the latter was out of danger. She was so preoccupied with watching it, she didn’t see the door in the ground until she stepped on it. It didn’t give way, but the hollow tapping sound, as opposed to the solid crunch of rock, grabbed her attention.

This time, a whistle was necessary to call back the Baby. Double checking it was close, Samus shot open the door.

She fell about ten feet and landed on a small platform with a muffled _thump_. Dust choked the stale air of the new room, blotting out the scarce traces of light filtering through the open door. Without her suit’s protection, it would have been impossible to breathe. Then the door closed, extinguishing the light. All sounds of the outside storm were silenced.

A faint glow bobbed at the edge of her visor. It came from the larva. Samus nearly forgot Metroids were bioluminescent, though this ability became more subdued as they evolved, growing scales to cover their glaring weak spot. But the infant before her shone like a miniature low-watt lightbulb, and it appeared delighted with this knowledge.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to penetrate the dusty blackness. Samus tapped the side of her helmet, and bright light streamed from her visor. It cut a swathe through the shadows, revealing innumerable cracks and fissures in the steel walls and an inch of dust coating every surface and leaking through the ceiling, threatening to collapse. Vertically long and narrow, the room’s artificial structure struck a bizarre contrast between the natural scenery just above. As Samus began her descent, an inescapable sense of familiarity tingled in the back of her mind. Her suspicions were confirmed upon stepping into the next room.

_Tourian._

The dust lay thickest here, and it mingled with a sea of ash. Fractured steel pillars, snapped wires, and the shattered glass that once housed Mother Brain stood as charred remnants of her first mission to Zebes. Now, there was no Mother Brain, no Zebetites, or even a drop of acid on the floor, hungry for intruding bounty hunters. All clear, but it didn’t make her any less uneasy.

With quick, short movements, she somersaulted across the platforms. Rather than taking a direct route, the Baby kept up by zigzagging around poles and twirling through gaps.

Beyond lay an elevator in surprisingly excellent condition. It was shiny, whole, and fully operational. In other words, brand new. A first true sign of pirate reconstruction.

Whatever waited below would not be the same as before. She stepped on, and it smoothly coasted downward. Its hum was somewhat soothing— a lull in the tension. Even the Baby stopped chattering.

It set down in Brinstar, in a dim cave of blue stone. If possible, the hush settled even deeper. Though she knew Zebes inside and out, this particular cave bore fresher memories than most, for it was here her so-called “zero mission” began, many years ago.

Despite the elevator’s newness, this cave had managed to remain untouched. And if her memory served her right…

Bingo. Beneath a high ledge sat the unmistakable Morph Ball. True to form, the space pirates had left it alone — and untouched — on its original pedestal. She tensed to jump down, but hesitated at the last second. There was no way the pirates hadn’t already found this essential upgrade. After all, it was right out in the open. If you knew where to look, it was easy to find.

After their failed experiments with Tallon IV’s Morph Ball, the pirates chucked it into the first dusty cave they could find in the Chozo Ruins. But even then, they took precautions, even if it was as simple as placing it among a nest of Beetles…

Samus shook herself out of her thoughts. If she wanted to get anywhere on Zebes, she needed that Morph Ball, booby trapped or not. Warning the Baby to stay put, she jumped down. At her touch, the capsule lit up, then seamlessly dissolved and integrated with her Power Suit.

_MORPH BALL OBTAINED._

A blinding light pierced her eyes. Turning immediately, she ducked and rolled through a short tunnel leading back to the larva. The light stayed trained upon her until it no longer spotted her. Samus unmorphed and, pressing her hand down on the larva to prevent it from approaching the light, cautiously peered over the ledge.

A single security camera. Charged with a simple task.

The walls trembled. Dust leaked from the cave roof. The Hunter heard a singular stampede gaining volume high above. The green bugs scattered at the emergence of a Shriekbat.

A subtle shift, but the message conveyed itself loud and clear.

Planet Zebes was awake.

**Author's Note:**

> Two years have passed since I first got into Metroid, and the Baby remains one of my favorite story points in the entire series. Its role is both important and heartfelt, and I'm sure many of us have wished to spare it from its tragic fate! Since I don't know how this would affect what follows, just take this as a simple "what if?" scenario! I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
